That was shortly after the cum Paul Machatel’s caravan of heavily armed protection thugs He beat two ordinary South Africans that the algorithm threw at Kaga Kalas.
There has been the Estonian president since 2021, riding his bike to work, followed by Tom Steinfurt, a journalist for 60 Minutes Australia, in his investigation of how neighbors are coping with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s imperial dreams.
No bulletproof gangster parade, no bunny thugs with automatic weapons. nada nothing. Just a 46 year old woman on her bike to work.
What is remarkable is that Estonia, a NATO member since 2004, borders Russia and has felt stifled by it in the past. Estonia was once under the control of the Soviet Union.
Klass’s mother, Kristi Kalas, was six months old when she was shipped off to Siberia in 1940 when the Soviet Union invaded the country.
Estonia declared neutrality at the start of World War II, but tyrants are not interested in declaring non-alignment for sovereign nations.
First came Stalin’s army. Then came the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler in 1941, only to retake Estonia with an invasion and occupation by the Red Army in 1944.
Estonia had lost a fifth of its population by that time. People in northeastern Europe have long memories. Deep ancestral wounds.
If there’s anyone in the world who you think needs actual physical protection, maybe even in a bulletproof Popemobile, it’s Kaja Kallas.
“Appeasement of a dictator is like feeding a crocodile and hoping you’ll be the last to be eaten. And I don’t want to be,” she explains to Steinfurt.
Aggression as a political tool can never be allowed, and “how the world responds to aggression from Russia also gives a message to all the aggressors or potential aggressors who are taking careful notes about how this happened or have thoughts about their neighbours,” says Klass.
Balls greater than all suits are grouped together. And courses to work – we said that.
Little neighbors, big hearts
Outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who led the country bordering Russia, Sweden and Norway from December 10, 2019 until last month, said things were “very black and white” in the region.
Russia has brutally attacked Ukraine. Illegally. We have to be awake, we have to make sure we’re ready for any kind of situation.”
Under her leadership, Finland entered NATO, Putin’s red cloth.
She is often seen outside, without armed corpses by her side. When she needed security, she preferred having women on her team.
Marin said the decision to join NATO was made with “a lot of citizen support” and that it was part of her legacy.
“We are at the changing point in history…we have to be on the right side,” said Marin.
Finland was never occupied by the Soviet Union, twice fought the Red Army and lost, but maintained its independence. Finland was part of the Russian Empire from 1809 until its independence in 1917.
Marin led a coalition government headed by five women. You will remember her for a party she threw at her official residence in 2022.
No bodyguards or heavies were caught in the photos that went viral. There wasn’t anything.
ice child ice
Iceland’s prime minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, has long called out Putin’s aggression. She has led the country since 2017.
She is a leading voice in the Council of Europe, which recently decided at a conference in Reykjavík to create a “Record of Damage” caused by the Russian invasion.
At a press conference, Jacobsdottir, 47, said that solidarity with Ukraine was “one of the main priorities of the Icelandic presidency” and that “accountability” was needed.
The Council of Europe’s record of damage to Ukraine, which 43 countries have pledged to uphold, is the first step toward an international mechanism to compensate victims of the Russian war.
Greek aunt
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the first woman to lead that country, was a former judge.
In November 2022 she made an unannounced visit to Ukraine.
“We will not forget [war] It declared the crimes committed in Mariupol against its innocent and peaceful inhabitants, a city with a Greek name and a large population of Greek origin.
Sakellaropoulou, 67, is another woman who isn’t partial to flaunting her importance by blowing a whistle, sounding a siren, flashing lights or shoving guns out windows. When seen abroad, there are no visible US-style processions or protection.
Trump refused
Danish Prime Minister since 2019, Mette Frederiksen was the woman who told then US President Donald Trump that his idea to “buy Greenland” was “ridiculous”. She will be re-elected in 2022.
She is the second woman in Danish history to be elected prime minister and the youngest. She is expected to become the first female head of NATO when Jens Stoltenberg steps down in September.
Frederiksen has been an advocate for the climate crisis and its impact on Africa and has pledged 60% of Denmark’s climate aid to developing countries.
Regarded as “one of the most skilled heads of state in Europe”, she was instrumental in promoting Western unity in the face of the war in Ukraine.
Denmark also provided significant financial and military assistance to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Danish government and other Nordic countries gave significant support to liberation movements in Africa, including the ANC, during the struggle.
Adam Price, screenwriter of the hit Danish series Borgen, said he modeled his character Birgit Nyborg (played by Sidis Babbitt Knudsen) on Frederiksen. She’s also not big on being heavy with guns and riding a bike.
Small suits, large hem
The US President’s motorcade (all pucker up leather upholstery) usually consists of at least 40 vehicles, including armored cars, Secret Service electronic countermeasures Chevrolet Suburban, counterattack squad and Secret Service agents. Leader of the free world and all that…
The Russian President’s Parade is a bog model, swinging a similar dick with an equal amount of blue lights and traffic cops in tight leather. Robert Mugabe also favored entering the slow procession.
The more theater, the more dangerous the politics, we learn.
Which brings us back to the idiots of Machatel, who did this even off-duty, folks.
South African women, we have nothing to lose but pageants, shouting, vitriol and bullying… It’s time to go. There are enough examples around the world. DM
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168, available nationwide for R29.
